Trump's 'Golden Dome' will cost $1.2tn and might not stop all-out missile attack

That pricetag is nearly seven times higher than Trump's initial estimate, found an independent budget office. Trump's 'Golden Dome' will cost $1.2tn and might not stop all-out missile attack Copyright current_year BBC. All rights reserved. The BBC is not responsible for the content of external sites. Read about our approach to external linking. Copyright current_year BBC. All rights reserved. The BBC is not responsible for the content of external sites. Read about our approach to external linking. President Donald Trump speaks in the Oval Office at the White House on May 20, 2025 in Washington, DC, presenting a posted for "Golden Dome," a national ballistic and cruise missile defense system. US President Donald Trump's futuristic "Golden Dome" missile defence system will cost about $1.2 ​tn (£882bn) to develop, deploy and operate over two decades, the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office estimates. That figure is significantly higher than the initial sum of $175bn (£129bn) that had been earmarked. And the system designed to shield the US against ballistic and cruise missiles might not even work. The new CBO report warned the Golden Dome could be vulnerable to a full-scale attack by Russia or China. Acquisition costs alone would be ⁠over $1tn, including for the interceptor layers and a space-based missile warning and tracking system, the fiscal scorekeeper said in a new report. Donald Trump in front of a poster depicting the Iron Dome in the Oval Office of the White House. Can Donald Trump build the 'Golden Dome' over the US? Just days after returning to the White House in January, Trump unveiled plans for the system, aimed at countering "next-generation" aerial threats. He said last year that the programme would require an initial investment of $25bn, with a total cost of $175bn over time. Democratic Senator Jeff Merkley, who requested the estimate in the report, said on Tuesday: "The President's so-called 'Golden Dome' is nothing more than a massive giveaway to ​defense contractors paid for entirely by working Americans." The BBC contacted the White House and the Pentagon for comment. There have been doubts about whether the US would be able to deliver a comprehensive defence system for such a huge land mass. Officials have warned that existing systems have not kept pace with increasingly sophisticated weapons possessed by potential adversaries. Despite the projected costs of the Golden Dome, "the system could be overwhelmed by a full-scale attack mounted by a peer or near-peer adversary", the CBO said. An executive order calling for the creation of what was initially termed the "Iron Dome for America" noted that the threat of next-generation weapons has "become more intense and complex" over time, a potentially "catastrophic" scenario for the US. A week into his second term, Trump ordered the defence department to submit plans for a system that would deter and defend against aerial attacks, which the White House said at the time remain "the most catastrophic threat" facing the US. Trump said the system would consist of "next-generation" technologies across land, sea and space, including space-based sensors and interceptors. The system would be "capable even of intercepting missiles launched from the other side of the world, or launched from space", the president said last year. SpaceX and Lockheed Martin last month won contracts worth up to $3.2bn to develop space-based missile interceptor prototypes for the system. Donald Trump in the Oval Office in front of a Golden Dome poster Trump unveils plans for 'Golden Dome' defence system The voluntary recall follows an incident on 20 April where an empty Waymo car entered a flooded road in San Antonio, Texas. The no-bid contract went to a firm company, which critics say bypassed a rule for competing offers. As the president continues his initiative to make Washington DC 'safe and beautiful', tourists and locals are conflicted over the $13m renovation. More than a dozen US executives have joined the president on his visit, where he will meet his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping. The 91-storey luxury hotel on the Gold Coast in Queensland was meant to be Australia's tallest building. He is the latest top health official to be ousted under Health Secretary Robert F Kennedy Jr. Beijing is arguably the most powerful competitor the US has confronted in its history, one analyst says. Trump's whirlwind visit to China is the most significant for years - but will it bear fruit?